Cricket announces Kyocera Luno in the US

When it comes to smartphones in the US, the major mobile carriers have the largest monopoly over the kinds of devices, and even exclusivity in some cases. That is to be expected, but what about smaller mobile carriers such as Cricket? Well, they do have high end phones from time to time, but for most of them, mid-range handsets are their bread and butter. Take the Kyocera Luno for instance – surely you won’t expect too much from a handset that retails for $59.99, do you?

This smartphone will fortunately come with Cricket’s unlimited talk, text and mobile data service plans, keeping in line with the phone’s budget-friendly price tag while delivering streamlined key features to keep you happy.

Basically, this clamshell device has a 1.8″ color display, a tactile keypad with visual separation to make it easier to compose those text messages, Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, BREW 3.1.5 technology for the downloading of games, ringtones, and wallpapers amongst others, a WAP 2.0 browser and a VGA camera with 5x digital zoom. A VGA camera, eh? That is so 2000.

Surprisingly, it comes with voice recognition features in both English and Spanish, throwing in voice tags, voice digit-dialing, and voice response so that you can live a true hands-free life. [Press Release]